After the Space Shuttle program concluded in 2011, it appeared that Florida’s Space Coast would turn into a “Ghost Coast,” a graveyard of abandoned dreams. Thousands of engineers, scientists, technicians, and contractors lost their jobs. The industry, which was dependent on the federal government, was in full retreat.

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Nearly 60 years ago, a lone American was launched into the great unknown of space — John Glenn had been sent on an orbital mission spanning thousands of miles, skimming the Earth’s atmosphere.
Today, America’s leadership in space continues unabated. But...

The weather cleared and Virgin Galactic has sent its SpaceShipTwo on another test mission back into space, with a test passenger on board for the first time.
The company founded by Richard Branson tweeted the minute-by-minute progression of the fifth...

Virgin Voyages celebrated Valentine’s Day by opening up bookings for new cruise ship Scarlet Lady for when it debuts sailing out of Miami in 2020.
It also announced that each sailing will be visiting a private destination on Bimini.
And for those who...

Florida’s privately owned and operated passenger rail company, now in a brand transition from Brightline to the Virgin Trains, has decided not to issue stock and to remain entirely private.
“As we explored a public offering, a number of alternative...

When Virgin Galactic pilots Mark “Forger” Stucky and C.J. Sturckow took SpaceShipTwo more than 50 miles above the surface of the Earth in December, they earned their wings, their commercial astronaut wings.
The U.S. Department of Transportation gave...

Virgin Voyages is rolling out more details about Scarlet Lady, the first of four cruise ships planned for the line, including some over-the-top suites for the adults-only vessel.
The ship, which is under construction at Fincantieri shipyards in Italy and...

A University of Central Florida experiment went for its second ride into space in about a month — and this time, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin provided the thrust.
The Amazon CEO’s rocket company launched its New Shepard rocket on its 10th test flight...

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic completed a monumental test flight Thursday — and the University of Central Florida got a slice of the glory.
Its experiment was one of four NASA-supported technologies part of the flight to space. Virgin’s...

Wave goodbye to the Brightline name as the privately owned passenger-rail company rebrands itself as Virgin Trains USA to reflect a new partnership with the Virgin Group.
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It’s a rocket. It’s a plane. It’s a rocket-plane?
Virgin Orbit released the first images Friday of its LauncherOne, a 70-foot-long rocket that will be strapped to the bottom of a converted Virgin Atlantic plane for mid-air launches into space as early...

After days of speculation, SpaceX’s mystery passenger is a mystery no more — and he’s got a surprise of his own.
The passenger who will take a trip around the moon will be Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who founded Japan’s largest fashion retail...

There could be room for one more tech magnate on the Space Coast.
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A new video from Blue Origin takes would-be space travelers on a virtual tour of the New Shepard crew capsule.
The video released this week and viewed nearly 20,000 times has a Siri-esque voice that would be right at home in Disney’s Tommorowland.
...

Virgin Galactic continues test flights of its space ship VSS Unity, sending it to its highest altitude yet, into Earth’s mesosphere.
The test flight over the Mojave Desert is the third supersonic flight for the craft, this time surpassing Mach 2,...

HOUSTON - He still looks every bit the NASA astronaut he once was. Same chest-out posture. Same Top Gun instincts. Same American flag on the left shoulder of his flight suit. Chris Ferguson even has a call sign, "Fergy."
There is one small detail that...

Tourists could be jetting up into space within a year, according to billionaire Richard Branson, as his company Virgin Galactic completed another successful supersonic flight of the VSS Unity space plane.
Branson made the prediction this past weekend...

WASHINGTON - For a decade, there was only one company for the Pentagon to turn to its launch its satellites into space: the joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing known as the United Launch Alliance.
A few years ago, Elon Musk 's SpaceX ended the...

Virgin Galactic 's new spaceship climbed at supersonic speed over California's Mojave Desert on Thursday in the company's first powered flight since the fatal crash of its original rocketship in 2014. The flight of VSS Unity was a major step forward,...